ReStore Cafe @ Tanjong Pagar Road

 restore

ReStore is a quaint cafe that attempts to marry the concept of jazz cafe with the sale of vintage furniture.

signage

Many a time I have walked past and stole peeks inside. Until one day I had a waffle-cafe craving.



There are space constraints in ReStore, furniture line one side whilst cafe tables line the other. Clearly shorthanded, it was manned by a lady who insisted on taking orders personally rather than you placing yours over the counter. The same lady introduces the menu, prepares your food and beverages and collects payment.

sold

Handwritten tags.

restore

Spreading the love.

chairs

Chair, chair on the wall..whose the fairest of them all?

menu

Waffle or Bagel or Beverage.

handwritten

Muffin?

kitchen

The open kitchen that I saw all action in. Mostly one-woman show, I saw her working her buns off to fulfill the orders.

banana caramel

Caramel Banana Waffle with Vanilla Icecream ($11.90)

Petite portions this comes in, 2 quarts of a baked waffle...a squirt of freshly whipped cream, a couple of dollops of homemade caramel sauce and a whole banana. Sounds just like a dish from Octa Hotel - from the plating to portions.

waffles

To put it point blank - Definitely not the most memorable waffle eaten of all time.In fact, everything else placed on the waffle seemed to outshine it. Loved the grainy texture of caramel sauce though I did not particularly love the barely ripe banana slices. The waffle was a tad dry though immensely fragrant. Its milky fragrance emitted from the open concept kitchen got me excited even before I saw it.

The vanilla-speckled icecream was puny and moderate though the lady tempted me with "really delicious New Zealand icecream".

 bagel time!

Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Caramel Cream Cheese ($5.50)

I've never had a whole bagel to myself before. Once again, this smelt so good. Cinnamon sure works wonders on anything!

cinnamon bagel

I took a deep breath and was in cinnamon heaven. Dense chewy bread with mild hints of cinnamon.

yum

I lathered the carb laden snack with caramel cream cheese - a really rich one! It got quite cloying at some point, not quite jelard per se but just sick of the bagel.

bagel with caramel cream cheese

Nonetheless I still polished it all - crumbs included. Not sure if sweet bagels are quite my thing but it was the self-indulgent moments that I liked. Reading lifestyle magazines and nibbling away at my bagel. 

There is something rustic about ReStore, perhaps the fact that everything is handled by one person alone - the fact that most basic things that are automated these days are manual. Scribbling of your order on a notepad or using a calculator to punch in your bill...to taking out a toolkit lookalike box filled with notes and coins. Charm, is what ReStore has...a cosy place to laze away the afternoon but food does not necessarily top the agenda.

The second visit morphed Restore into a pop music cafe, instead of lazy jazz...it was a cafe with loads of chatter and jarring pop music...that being said, I still managed to laze the lunch away!

10% Service charge applies on all food.

http://restoreliving.blogspot.com/

ReStore Cafe
124 Tanjong Pagar Road

Comments

  1. Lunch at ReStore then tauhuay for dessert keke.

    ReplyDelete
  2. awww..what happened to your bobor chacha!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You: Lunch @ ReStore -> tauhuay for dessert (:

    Moi: Bobo chacha lunch -> tauhuay for dessert :D

    Tauhuay where I'm not revealing. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. hahahahaha orh. nah, pretty much done trying what I want to try at restore. next place on the list ;)

    ReplyDelete

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